CIA Interrogation Tapes Found Under Desk; Judge Was Told They Didn’t Exist

A Justice Department prosecutor is investigating why the CIA never disclosed interrogation videotapes made at a Moroccan facility before they were found under a desk in 2007.

The tapes show the interrogation of accused Sept. 11 plotter Ramzi Binalshibh at a Moroccan detention center largely financed by the CIA, sources told the Associated Press. The government twice told a federal judge the tapes didn’t exist and then downplayed their significance after they were found, the story says.

A staffer found the tapes under a desk in the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, the story says. Ninety-two other interrogation videos were destroyed, and they are part of the Justice Department investigation.

According to AP, the Binalshibh tapes “could provide an unparalleled look at how foreign governments aided the U.S. in holding and questioning suspected terrorists.” They could also provide evidence of Binalshibh’s mental state after his capture. Defense lawyers want to know if his treatment by the CIA made him mentally unstable.